Canon Comic Review: Lando #2

Lando, Lobot, and his various crew learn that whomever owned the ship they just stole, it’s someone important because the Empire responds both swiftly and in big numbers. And somehow, things only get crazier from there in Lando issue #2.

Palpatine’s ship, codenamed the Imperialis by the Imperial pursuers, is about as nifty as you’d expect from a wealthy Dark Lord of the Sith who rules over the entire galaxy. Advance counter measures, souped-up engines, a super sleek design, and probably many more secrets hide within it’s hull, all thanks to Raith Sienar (a Legends holdover) himself. Lobot even goes so far as to say the Falcon would be jealous of the Imperialis, while Lando’s response seems to hint that losing the ship is still a fresh wound to him. His fun with maneuvering the vessel to evade capture does show he’s willing to let the Falcon go though, as at one point he rolls some chance cubes, like in the cover art above, to hopefully use two competing tractor beams against each other. Again, Soule has really gotten down the essence of Lando, as his cocksure attitude and bluffing skills are through the roof to get Sava Korin and Aleskin (one of the cloned aliens) off his back and let him continue to fly.

Just when Lando, Lobot, Sava Korin, and the clone aliens think they are out of the water following Lando’s lucky flying, things find a way to get worse. Seeing as we all know Lobot is alive by The Empire Strikes Back, which takes place after this comic, I love how Soule plays with our expectations and ends the issue with Lobot stabbed (near the heart) by the Imperial Royal Guard hiding in a vault of types on the ship. I sure as hell wasn’t expecting it and truly enjoyed the surprise, as it’s a brave decision to do that to one of the known characters instead of taking the easy path and putting one of the new, non-movie characters at risk. However they get out of this jam, the problems won’t end as Palpatine orders a brand new bounty hunter on their tail…more on them in a bit.

Again, the art this issue captures the tone of this story perfectly, and the various color schemes for each location make realizing where you are quick and easy. Maleev and Mount’s art and colors, respectively, get a real chance to shine during the introduction to another new character, this one a bounty hunter wearing armor familiar to Boba Fett fans but actually isn’t Boba Fett: Chanath Cha. Cha’s introduction is really well done, immediately giving Cha a real sense of threat and personality, setting them apart from the other popular Mandolarian flying around the galaxy bounty hunting. There’s no hint on gender or species too, which is a nice touch and helps you focus on their actions instead of who or what they are. Cha should be an interesting character in the coming issues.

Here are a few other things:

Lobot continues to get a(n) (entertaining) personality, quipping a few jokes this issue. My favorite bit had to be his response to Lando saying he wanted to fly into the two tractor beams, “…There is no way you actually just said that.”

I’d love to see what else Sheev as stowed away aboard his ship, as the Gungan fertility totem was a pretty funny and telling piece of his collection. It kind of makes me wonder (jokingly) if Sheev thinks taking the fertility totem will prevent the Gungans from reproducing and slowly kill off their species.

I was a little surprised to see Commodore Idel ready to off himself over his failure, but considering Palpatine ordered him to obliterate the orbital shipyard which had been housing the Imperialis due to it’s inability to protect his ship, whatever punishment Palpatine would have in mind for Idel would be much worse than death. And his advice to a co-Imperial, about the Rebellion hiring, was kind of funny.

Wonder if that’s the last we’ll see of Big String in this series or not.

With Lobot’s life on the line plus a new and deadly threat in the form of Chanath Cha on the way, Lando #2 ends on a surprising note (in a different way than issue #1), while continuing to entertain like only a comic about Lando really could.